A Kurdish-language AI-generated song has become one of TikTok and Instagram’s most unexpected viral hits. It has sparked conversations not only about artificial intelligence and music, but also about the global visibility of Kurdish culture and language.
Her e Gule, which uses traditional Kurdish music with AI-generated vocals, has gained rapid popularity across social media in recent weeks, appearing in dance videos, travel clips and romantic montages shared by users around the world. For many Kurdish listeners, however, the song’s sudden rise carries a deeper meaning.
“The idea for Her e Gule came during a beautiful morning breakfast,” Baris Korkmaz, the Kurdish-German producer known professionally as Paix, tells The National of the viral track he created alongside artist Luwam Mesfin. “Luwam and I wanted to create something traditional and simple while still making it feel modern.”
“We ended up making six different versions of the song before choosing the final one. In the end, it was really important for us to create a sound that felt as authentic and real as possible, while also being catchy and memorable.”
While AI-generated music has increasingly become part of online culture, Her e Gule stands out because it is helping introduce millions of people to a language rarely represented in mainstream global pop culture.
“It feels wonderful to see people all around the world singing in Kurdish,” Korkmaz says. “Kurdish people love, Kurdish people dance – and this song is all about love. We honestly couldn’t imagine anything more beautiful. Everyone who listens to the song can feel the love and peace behind it, and that means a lot to us.”
He says helping people connect with the Kurdish language was always part of the intention behind the project.
“It feels amazing that people are getting closer to the Kurdish language. With this project, that was exactly one of our goals,” he says. “Origin doesn’t matter, neither skin colour nor religion – there are no boundaries when it comes to love and language. We are all one. This is about love and peace above everything else.”
The song’s popularity has also surprised its creators, who did not expect it to resonate so strongly beyond Kurdish communities.
“Honestly, not to this extent,” says Korkmaz. “And that actually confirmed even more that we are on the right path. We were really happy about every single reel and every TikTok people created with the song. It genuinely meant a lot to us, and it motivated us to keep going in this direction.”
Part of the fascination surrounding the track is that its vocals are AI-generated rather than performed by a human singer, something the creator views as part of a new era in music-making.
“Innovation meets art, we are moving into the future. There are no limits anymore,” he says. “I have spent my whole life creating music and working with different artists, developing a certain know-how that now allows me to finally achieve everything I have always envisioned with this tool.
“The voice sounds so real that I felt it had to be released – the world needed to hear it.”
Still, the song’s success has also prompted debate among Kurdish listeners and artists about authenticity and the ways Kurdish culture is represented internationally.
Zheera J Hassan, a Kurdish journalist, says the moment is emotionally complex for many Kurds, especially given the history of cultural repression faced across the region.
“Growing up as a stateless Kurd, we are taught to appreciate and emphasise every single mention of Kurdishness and, or, Kurdistan,” Hassan says. “As Kurds, the only times we are recognised are when people talk about the Anfal Campaign during the Ba'ath era, or more recently, the heroism and often glorification of Kurdish female fighters who fought against ISIS in Iraq and Syria. Thus, it's not common to see us being recognised for our songs and culture.”
However, at the same time, Hassan says there is tension surrounding the fact that an AI-generated song – rather than traditional Kurdish performers – became the breakout global moment.
“Our people endured, and still endure, so much to keep our music and culture alive,” he says. “Our oral history stayed alive and well, moving into the digital era, despite the repression and banning of the Kurdish language and cultural celebration in all four countries that Kurdish regions were carved into: Iraq, Syria, Turkey and Iran.
"But now, it's an AI-generated song that went global, leaving behind all the locally recognised folkloric artists that have been performing live in our cultural gatherings and going against the oppressive governments and their ban on Kurdish songs.”
Hassan compares the phenomenon to other AI-driven viral moments online, questioning whether algorithms increasingly favour polished artificial content over real-world artistic labour and documentation.
“The song going viral is rather strange. What made this one in particular go viral?” he says. “It reminds me of that AI-generated All Eyes on Rafah photo that went viral on Instagram stories, while actual photographers were constantly and literally risking their lives to cover the massacres and the destruction that were taking place.”
Despite his concerns, Hassan believes the viral success of Her e Gule can still create opportunities for Kurdish musicians working across modern genres.
“If there's one positive outcome about this, it is that the song is in the Kurdish language, a generated version, but still Kurdish, and it has been consumed by a global audience,” he says.
“I believe this is proof that Kurdish musicians can create modern music such as hip-hop, rock, metal and rave music in the Kurdish language."
